According to the lawsuit, Utt died at 60 years old at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem in July of 2011. Utt arrived in the ER several days prior complaining of kidney issues and bacterial pneumonia. After a day of receiving treatment, Utt’s lab results improved so much so that he was able to undergo surgery to repair a gastric perforation that had led to his symptoms.

The surgery itself went extremely well and the deadly mistake was only made when the doctors tried to wake Utt up. An anesthesiologist administered the wrong medication, one 100s of times more powerful than the drug that should have been used. Not only was the drug mix-up made, but it went unnoticed for nearly an hour.

After being given the wrong medication, Utt immediately showed signs of trouble, with his blood pressure falling and his rate dropping to around 30 beats per minute. Even when the medication error was noticed, the lawsuit says the surgical team failed to administer Narcan to Utt, a known antidote.

Eight days after the surgery, Utt was diagnosed with respiratory failure and died later that afternoon. The lawsuit claims that Utt suffered intense pain for eight days as a direct result of the medication error by the anesthesiologist. The med mal suit says that this medication error contributed to the wrongful death of Utt and the hospital and its agents were negligent for administering and then not correcting the wrong medication.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of a medical error or complication, you should consult with an experienced North Carolina (NC) medical malpractice lawyer who has successfully handled similar cases in the past. Our firm enjoys a reputation of experience and success while representing victims in medical malpractice cases against doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers. We approach each case individually to provide the resources, knowledge and experience to achieve success on behalf of our clients.